When you think "macrobiotic," do you picture unseasoned brown rice, raw sprouts, and no taste? Abandon the stereotype, because macrobiotic cooking is both varied and tasty, especially with the recipes in this cookbook.

Macrobiotic cooking uses these food groups:
1. 30-50% of the diet is whole grains, the main staple food: brown rice, whole wheat, oats, corn, millet, barley, rye, buckwheat, and foods made with cracked grains and whole grain flour.
2. 30-50% is vegetables, in season and grown locally when possible, and sea vegetables, which store and travel well.
3. 5-15% can be beans, soy foods, or occasional seafood.
4. In moderation: fruits, seeds, nuts.

Author Meredith McCarty is codirector of the East-West Center for Macrobiotics in Eureka, California. She explains the basics of cooking whole grains and soyfoods, and walks us through the use of unfamiliar ingredients such as sea vegetables and grain beverages. Recipes include Stand-Up Cabbage Sushi, Nutty Noodle Bake, Mexican Rice, Journeycakes (American Indian flatbread), Green Corn Tamale Bake, Japanese Cool Noodle Salad, Baked Tempeh with Lemon-Mustard Sauce, and Lemon-Lime Pudding Pie. Far from an austere diet, the recipes are as hearty, ethnically varied, and tasty as they are healthy. --Joan Price